Excluded from playoffs, Bob Cole's voice lives on through Twitter

@BobColeBaby. Is not. Bob Cole. But in. Each tweet. There is poetry. Spirit. His. Maybe. Hockey folks. Not Cole. But somehow. Close

It was an uprising, a revolt, an old dude, beyond his best days — according to his bosses at Rogers Sportsnet — who wasn’t going gently into that good night, but raging on Twitter; crafting sublime hockey poetry as only Bob Cole could.

Cole, he of the golden play-by-play NHL voice, a living Hockey-Hall-of-Famer, was silenced when his employers left the octogenarian out of the playoff broadcast mix this year, electing to go with some younger voices.

But in the quiet, the Twitter account @BobColeBaby emerged, radiant and free, and with no commercial breaks.

Postmedia’s Michael Traikos wrote in mid-April about Cole’s exclusion from the playoffs, triggering an outpouring of social media support for the St. John’s resident, a blend of rage (at his benching) and devotion (because there is only one Bob Cole). And on May 2, @BobColeBaby addressed it for his 10,000 followers.

Thanks for the kind words. The broadcast. Doesn’t make the hockey. The players make the hockey. The hockey. Makes the hockey. And. Playoff hockey. Is the best. Hockey. Baby. The best. For sure. Just enjoy it. Folks.

“Thanks for the kind words,” the account tweeted. “The broadcast. Doesn’t make the hockey. The players make the hockey. The hockey. Makes the hockey. And. Playoff hockey. Is the best. Hockey. Baby. The best. For sure. Just enjoy it. Folks.”

The literary cadence was classic Cole: halting, building from one point to the next to a crescendo, to an end. And there was more. On May 3, during a tense moment of Game 4 in the Winnipeg Jets-Nashville Predators series, the Jets looked to have scored — but had they?

It crossed the line. Maybe not. But we think it did. And then theres the side view. And the ice is thick. And then. It’s a goal baby. But then maybe. He bumped him. Bumped. The goalie. But maybe not. Maybe pushed in. Bobby Hull. Used to just blast it through. No questions then

“It crossed the line,” @BobColeBaby tweeted. “Maybe not. But we think it did. And there’s the side view. And the ice is thick. And then. It’s a goal. Baby. But then maybe. He bumped him. Bumped. The goalie. But maybe not. Maybe pushed in. Bobby Hull. Used to just blast it through. No questions then.”

And before Jets-Predators game seven: “Put the picture. Away. And. Soak up the sun. And let’s go. It’s the playoffs. Everyday. Is a winding road. And. Now. It’s Game 7. Baby. And it. Makes. You. Happy.”

Bob Cole, left, with former Governor General David Johnston after Cole became a member of the Order of Canada in 2016.Adrian Wyld /
CP

Happy, yes, wanting to believe Bob Cole, all 84-years of him — and 50-plus years doing play-by-play — was still in the game. Banished but not gone, not even diminished, but Twitter-pitch-perfect and worthy of applause. Could it really be Cole doing it? What had inspired him to take a stand — to reach out not just to his mid-life devotees, like me, but to a social media generation that wasn’t alive to hear his call, say, of Dougie Gilmour’s double-overtime goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs against St. Louis during the 1993 playoffs, cherished still among Leafs supporters amid a now 50-plus-year Stanley Cup-less tide of mostly forgettable Toronto hockey moments.

“Gilmour back of the net, Andreychuk in front with Borschevsky,” Cole crooned, all those playoffs ago. “It is Gilmour waiting, waiting, around the net, waiting — he’s open! Gilmour! Solo job! And he’s won it, in a second overtime period. How. About. That. Oh my. Oh my. What a night, tonight, for the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

Reached at home in St. John’s Tuesday afternoon, Cole was doing what he does everyday, which, he said, means getting ready to watch a hockey game at night — on television — from his couch, far away from the action and the arena where he would rather be.

“I liked what I was doing, and it hurts, not to be doing it anymore,” Cole said, in Bob Cole’s unmistakable voice. “I don’t know. It is a touchy subject. It is pretty tough when you are told you are not included.

“It is my work. Maybe it was the right decision. I am still kind of wondering what has happened, to be honest. I shouldn’t say too much. I am just disappointed. It hasn’t hit me yet, that I can’t do it. But that’s me. And maybe I am right, and maybe I am wrong.

“But I sure feel okay.”

Legendary NHL play-by-play commentator Bob Cole displays some of his favorite hockey memorabilia he has received over his 38 year career including a hockey helmet and hockey jersey; both gifts from Wayne Gretzky; at his home in St. John’s, NL, Tuesday, February 8th, 2011.RHONDA HAYWARD/STR/ QMI AGENCY

Cole explained it has been heartening, when he is out and about in St. John’s, to have people come over — strangers — telling him the playoffs are lesser without his voice in them. But what about the tweeting? Was it him, his way of making the greater loss easier to take?

“It’s not me,” Cole said. “I heard about it, though. But I am not in on the tweet program. I haven’t signed up, and I don’t intend to, at least not yet.”

About his Twitter imposter, Cole didn’t seem to mind. Perhaps neither should we.

@BobColeBaby. Is not. Bob Cole. But in. Each tweet. There is poetry. Spirit. His. Maybe. Hockey folks. Not Cole. But somehow. Close.

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